


bad company

by blackbirddan



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2009 Era (Phandom), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-17 21:49:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21850246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackbirddan/pseuds/blackbirddan
Summary: Dan just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, that's all. Teenagers just get moody sometimes, right?Written for the phanworkschallenge advent fest, day 18
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 10
Kudos: 100
Collections: PhanWorksChallenge - Advent 19 Fest





	bad company

"Shut the door, then."

"Alright," huffed Dan, slamming the car door closed. 

His mother smothered a laugh as she pulled the car out of the driveway. When Dan got into one of his moods, she knew that laughing at him - however gently - would only deepen his scowl, however tempting it might be. He'd seemed a bit happier in the last few weeks but, she reminded herself, he _was_ still a teenager for another year and a half. 

And as soon as Dan was out of his teens, she had another right behind him, she remembered, gripping the steering wheel slightly harder. 

In the passenger seat, more than a foot further back than her own seat, Dan was texting again. While she was tempted to tease him for being the absolute stereotype of a teenager, she didn't really want to invoke the inevitable eye-rolling and tutting that would ensue. Not before coffee.

"Did you feed the dog?” she went for instead.

Dan's fingers paused in their frantic motion for a moment. 

"Was I supposed to?" 

Karen sighed, and made a mental note to call her mum once she got to work.

"Sorry,” muttered Dan. "I can go back at lunch. Get the bus or something." 

"You sure? If you won't remember I can ask Nan - " 

“I will," said Dan defiantly. "I was just in a rush this morning." 

"How come?" 

"Overslept." 

"I'm not surprised. I heard you typing when I got up in the night. And that was about half two." 

"Yeah," said Dan in a monotone. "I had trouble sleeping so I thought I might as well do something." 

"Any reason?" she said. 

“No,” said Dan after a moment. "Just happens sometimes. Too much coffee, maybe." He returned to his texts. 

_Oh, be like that, then,_ she thought, before rebuking herself. She knew Dan had a lot on his mind. All his school friends, as well as his girlfriend, had gone off to university. No wonder he was spending so much money travelling around to see them, and chatting to them online late into the night. If the internet had been a thing when she was at uni, she’d probably have done the same. She’d offered him a lift this morning because she’d caught him still frantically ironing his shirt and knew he’d be late otherwise, and thought it might have been a good opportunity to talk a little. 

"Well," said Karen ten minutes later, Dan still texting silently beside her. "You’re great company this morning." 

Dan made a show of switching his phone's screen off and turning towards her. 

"Did you actually want to talk about something? Or are you just having a go?" 

"I wasn't having a go," she said mildly. 

“Well what, then?”

“I just thought we could talk.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know. You all ready for your trip this weekend?”

“Yeah.”

“Getting up to anything fun while you’re there?”

“Er - cinema, maybe?”

“Oh - what are you seeing?”

Dan shrugged.

“We’ll decide when we get there.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Mmm.”

They lapsed back into silence until Karen pulled up outside the supermarket. 

“Don't forget Bangy," she said, as Dan went to swing the door shut. 

"I won't," he said irritably. "Thanks for the lift. See you." 

She watched him mooch into the supermarket in his virulently green shirt, sighing slightly. She knew Dan hated his job, but what teenager didn't? She'd had a shitty retail job herself as a student and had hated it too, but - like Dan - she'd needed the money and her parents had insisted it'd be good for her. At least it got him out of the house, and earned him some money for the amount of flitting around the country he was suddenly doing. She had no idea how a part-time, minimum-wage job was paying for all these tickets, but Dan was insistent he was just adept at ‘finding the best deals’. 

_Ah, to still have a young person's railcard_ , she thought as she pulled back into the traffic. 

By the time she arrived home that evening Dan was already holed up in his room, typing away on his laptop, and he replied to her queries about dinner by saying he'd already eaten. At least he’d remembered to feed the dog.

She sighed, dug a lasagne out of the freezer, and opened her own laptop. 

_Maybe a glass of wine might be nice_ , she thought.

* * *

"So what did you have for dinner?" asked Phil. 

Dan made a face. 

"Er - Pringles." 

"Pringles? How come?" 

Dan shrugged. 

“Dunno. Didn't fancy a big meal. Oh, and I had a Mars bar on my break. And a Red Bull. That staff discount has to be good for something." 

Phil frowned, but Dan spoke again before he could say anything.

"What did you have?”

"Oh," said Phil, "Er, cottage pie." 

"Nice." 

"You could go and get something now, if you want. I can call you back. Or just wait." 

"Nah, it's fine," said Dan. “I'm not hungry." 

"Are you sure? Toast or something?" 

"Nah. I had a lot of Pringles. Like, all of the Pringles." 

Phil just looked at him. Dan met his eyes, and his expression softened at Phil's look of concern. 

"I'll eat a vegetable tomorrow, I promise." 

"You'd better. I want your Vegetable Report on my desk by close of business." 

"Yes, sir." 

Phil smirked. 

"Oi," said Dan. "I knew I shouldn't have said that. You like it too much."

"Maybe." 

Dan's answering smile was short-lived, and Phil's fell to match it. 

"Bad day?" he said. Dan shrugged. 

"Not really," he said. "I mean, it was fine. Work was quiet. Actually didn't get any stupid dickhead questions, for once. And then Pringles were on special. Result." 

“What else did you do?”

“Nothing, really,” said Dan. “Had to get the bus home and then back again at lunch to feed the dog - I was five minutes late, but luckily my manager didn’t notice. Saw an arsehole I went to school with after work, that’s always awesome. Came home. Ate all the snacks. Showered. And now I’m talking to you. Perfectly normal day.”

“Good,” said Phil. “Me too. Popped to the shops, otherwise I’ve just been at home.”

“Mmm,” said Dan. An unusual silence grew between them.

“Mmm,” said Phil in reply. Anything to break the quiet.

"Sorry," said Dan, on a large exhale. "I guess I'm just - not great company today. Like, the day’s been fine, I just feel - I dunno. Weird." 

“You're always good company." 

Dan snorted. 

"And it's okay if you aren't," continued Phil. "Like, we all get tired and grumpy sometimes."

"S’pose." 

"Do you want to get an early night, maybe?" said Phil. “You’ll feel better after a long sleep. I know we were up late last night.”

"I - no." said Dan. "It's fine." 

"Dan." 

"Look, today's been shit, and I've been looking forward to talking to you all day," said Dan, fiddling with one of his wristbands. "So, yeah I'm tired, but I want to stay - if you don't mind me being a grumpy twat, that is." 

He looked up at Phil almost shyly, as though he wondered if Phil might tell him to piss off because he was being annoying.

"’Course not," said Phil. "Well, why don't you get into bed? Get all nice and cosy." 

"Could do," said Dan, smiling slightly. "If I could be bothered to move." 

"I command thee!" 

"God, so bossy," said Dan, shifting slowly as he made to get off his bed. “Fine.” 

“Music? Quiet music, I mean.”

“Yeah. You choose.”

Phil scrolled through his playlists as Dan rustled around in the background, getting ready for bed. He ended up picking his playlist of instrumental movie soundtracks, and turned down the volume so he could still hear Dan puttering around his room after coming back from the bathroom.

After a few minutes, he saw the lights go out, the brown and gold in his field of vision turning to shades of grey in the dim light from Dan’s laptop.

Dan reappeared, flicking back the covers. 

"Hang on," he said. "I'll put you on - hmm. Maybe - on the pillow?" 

The view and sound jostled violently as Dan settled under his duvet, and Phil was treated to a close-up of his bare chest as Dan plopped his laptop onto his pillow. 

"Is this okay?" he said, angling the screen so Phil could see his face. 

"Oh, definitely," said Phil. "Nice view." 

"Shut up," said Dan, nestling into his pillow. "It's dark in here, anyway." 

"I can see you in the light of your laptop, though." 

"Mood lighting." 

"Yeah." 

Dan yawned and nuzzled further into his pillow, his young face troubled. His jaw was tense and he looked almost pouty, but Phil knew this wasn’t just teenage sulking. He knew Dan’s sulking, he’d seen it before, it was just as loud and demonstrative as his other emotions. Times like this, though, he was still and quiet, and all Phil wanted to do was curl up behind him, press kisses to his shoulder and see a tired, but genuine, smile appear on his face.

"You can go to sleep," said Phil gently. "I won't be offended, promise." 

"S'ok, I'll be awake for a bit,” said Dan. "It's pretty early. Why am I in bed again?" 

"’Cause it's comfy." 

"lt’d be comfier if you were here." 

"Aww. Obviously. If we'd both fit." 

"We'd figure it out. You might end up with my knee in your groin or something though." 

"Sounds okay to me." 

"I knew you were into some weird stuff.”

“Hey. Would we actually fit, though?”

“We could get an air mattress, when you come to visit, if you want. But I’m up for the challenge, if you are.”

Phil smiled at the _when_. They hadn’t discussed it much, and Dan had made a point of impressing on him how shitty Wokingham was, but nevertheless he’d seemed happy at the idea that Phil wanted to come and see his home, meet his family (especially his dog), and see all the places he grew up. Dan had a car, and Phil loved the idea of the two of them taking off on drives into the countryside with their music blasting, just the two of them.

“Challenge accepted.”

Dan did smile, then, for a moment, and Phil felt warm at the sight.

“What is this music? Is this _Gladiator_ or something?” said Dan.

“Yeah. Do you not like it?”

“No, it’s fine,” said Dan. “I like it.” He yawned again. 

“I don’t want this to sound weird, and if it’s dumb or you want to talk then tell me, but - wait, okay. If we weren’t talking right now, what would you be doing?” he said.

“Er, probably editing,” said Phil. “I was also gonna go through the files on my desktop, put some stuff on an external. Nothing that exciting. I’ll probably do it tomorrow.”

“You can do it now, if you like,” said Dan. “And maybe I could just - listen?”

“Just listen?”

“That’s weird,” said Dan, a snap to his voice. “I knew it was, I’m sorry. I should let you go - ”

“It’s not weird,” said Phil. “What do you want to do?”

“I just - it’s … nice. That I can hear you doing stuff, even if we aren’t talking. It’s almost like - I’m there. Or you’re here. And I like the music, too.”

Phil almost wanted to cry. Not for the first time, he cursed the distance between them.

“I like all that, too,” he admitted, thinking about listening to Dan getting ready for bed and how domestic and cosy it had made him feel. “We can do it whenever. Just keep the call open, whatever we’re doing.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” said Phil.

“Thank you.”

Dan closed his eyes again and sighed, but his expression looked a little more peaceful. Phil indulged himself, and watched him quietly for a few moments, wishing he could properly see Dan’s dark eyelashes, the freckles on his cheek, his fingers curled next to his face; see it all for real rather than through the dim, grainy screen of his laptop. After a few more indulgent moments he shrunk the window down so he could still see Dan’s face, and got to work on his files.

By the time his desktop was clear and he’d gone through another couple of playlists, Dan still hadn’t spoken. 

“Dan?” he murmured. There was no reply, except for Dan’s steady, quiet breaths.

Phil smiled at his screen fondly. His eyes burned with tiredness, and he realised he still had his contacts in. His back cracked alarmingly as he stood up and stretched, before retrieving some pyjamas and heading for the bathroom. He’d deal with the multiple mugs strewn about his room tomorrow.

By the time he got back, Dan was still sleeping soundly on his laptop screen. He reached out to close the lid, but stopped before his fingers reached it.

As Dan had done, he turned off the light and got into bed, placing his laptop next to his pillow. The cord didn’t quite stretch this far and the battery would be dead by morning, but he’d be asleep before it died. 

Dan had turned around now, away from the camera, and Phil’s fingers twitched with how much he wished he could reach out and brush them along Dan’s long back, and play with the ends of his hair. He’d be able to do so soon, though, and for now he could still fall asleep to the sound of Dan breathing beside him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Reblog [here](https://blackbirddan.tumblr.com/post/189742181356/fic-bad-company) on Tumblr. :)


End file.
